Childhood Psoriasis

As my children grow up, I’m naturally reminded of my own childhood. My youngest is in fourth grade, the grade I first started missing mornings at school three times a week to drive almost an hour each way to Oakland, California for ultraviolet light (UVB) treatments. My parents discussed this medical necessity with my teacher, who told the class why I would attend class late. While communication is helpful in many cases, I felt upset that the teacher exposed my “skin problem” to all my classmates. I already felt scared and confused about why I needed to miss school for “light treatment.” The teasing and name-calling that ensued made it all that much worse. Add on the bullying I received for being Chinese-American, it all added up to an emotionally trying childhood.

Childhood psoriasis was the theme for this year’s World Psoriasis Day on October 29th. A news article published the same day, “Kids With Psoriasis Often at Risk of Being Bullied: Survey,” found 44 percent of children who have psoriasis had been bullied, with 38 percent of those cases directly related to having psoriasis. Bullying caused anxiety in 60 percent of children with psoriasis, crying in 47 percent, decrease academic performance in 23.5 percent, and sleep problems in 23.5percent.

Those of us with psoriasis understand all too well how the emotional toll can be as much, or even more, damaging as the physical. How much more damaging might that fear, social anxiety, discomfort, etc. be for a child? I spent many dark days in my twenties (and some more thereafter) recounting, and trying to heal from, the damage that having psoriasis as a child and teenager did to my self-esteem. I could remember specific faces, locations, and words that cut much deeper than my skin. I could feel the anger welling up inside of me as if I were still that child on the playground at my elementary school in the East Bay suburb of San Francisco. I wanted to know where my parents were when I wore long-sleeve shirts on 100 degree days, why nobody took the time to explain what was happening to me, and where God was during those painful times.

Spending time with friends and others who would listen, along with a growing faith in God, helped me address those hurts and heal those wounds. I also found outlets that gave me a place to belong and find acceptance, such as playing Little League baseball. Few people who know me here in Los Angeles would understand why the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series would bring tears to my eyes. My saving grace those childhood years was playing baseball and following the Giants. My teams became my community, with caring coaches and accepting teammates. I never amounted to much of a baseball player, but in playing I found my identity as an athlete and a team that I could follow. Psoriasis faded into the background as I imagined hitting that home run in game seven of the World Series for my home team.

The schools my children attend have anti-bullying campaigns. They are trained on how to rebuff a bully and when to get help from an adult. This education should go a long way into making schools a more understanding place to be different. And as parents, we can be more aware of the emotional toll that a disease like psoriasis can have on children. Now we have statistics to back it up — having psoriasis as a child can strike to the core.

Did you have psoriasis as a child, or do you have a child with psoriasis? What was your experience, and how did you cope with it?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Howard Chang

Howard Chang has lived with severe psoriasis for more than 35 years since childhood. He is a volunteer for the National Psoriasis Foundation. Howard works as a Christian spiritual advisor and is a married...read more